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HD whine

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cornbread

Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2001
Location
The great USA!
Is there any way to control Hard Drive whine? I just reinstalled all my hardware in a new case and I seem to notice a whining noise coming from one of my HD's, it's an IBM by the way. The other hard drive is fine, I don't notice it.
 
most drives do have a quiet function but not sure if ibm supports this. I'll to a quick search if you give me the model #
 
That just applys to head noise. The whine comes from the motor. Pretty sure it means the bearings are drying out. Not a big deal.
 
I think I will just get another, it's small, 2mb buffer, old and fills up pretty quick. I was reading last night the the Seagates are pretty quiet, I'll probably try one of those.
 
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I hate that annoying whine! I cant hear perfectly anymore but high pitched noises bother the hell out of me for some reason. I can hear em when most cant.

It seems ok while its a single pitch whine but I think you need to worry as soon as the pitch changes several times in a few seconds then levels out only to do it a few more times a few minutes later.

JT
 
Crazy question, but if it were something like bearings could you just put a drop of oil on it somewhere? I never have looked that closely at a HD, so I have no idea how easy or not it would be to take apart. Maybe if I get a new HD, I will do that very thing on this whiny thing.
 
cornbread said:
I think I will just get another, it's small, 2mb buffer, old and fills up pretty quick. I was reading last night the the Seagates are pretty quiet, I'll probably try one of those.

Not pretty quiet. Inaudible. You may hear very,very light read/write noises but that would be it.

cornbread said:
Crazy question, but if it were something like bearings could you just put a drop of oil on it somewhere? I never have looked that closely at a HD, so I have no idea how easy or not it would be to take apart. Maybe if I get a new HD, I will do that very thing on this whiny thing.

I wouldn't risk it. There is really no way to access the bearings without the good chance of ruining the drive with dust. I am also pretty sure it is some very special oil. Super-low-velocity or something like that. Stick it in an old comp in the closet and use it for a file server.
 
UPDATE....

Turns out the whiny drive was my Maxtor, I have NEVER had any luck with the Maxtors. The IBM is fine, and I did purchase a Seagate and love it, works great and is quiet.
 
cornbread said:
UPDATE....

Turns out the whiny drive was my Maxtor, I have NEVER had any luck with the Maxtors. The IBM is fine, and I did purchase a Seagate and love it, works great and is quiet.

Ahh. I have a whiny 40gig Maxtor and 8gig WD too, but they don't have the FDB motors. So thats the main problem. Glad you like your Seagate.
 
SavageBasher said:
Anything other than a seagate you will hear the motor whining. Which is why I only buy seagates anymore. :D :D :D

I cant hear my Raptor spin unless i put my ear to it, same as the Seagates. Really, any drive with the FDB motors you will not hear. The only thing I hear from it is r/w noise.
 
I think if you tried to lube the bearings the drive would be ruined real fast. :(

I've read that the whining will sometimes go away or at least change if the drive is mounted upside down or vertical. But since the whine has such a high pitch, maybe placing some soft, fluffy material, like bunny fur (for humane purposes, use only live bunnies) near the drive (not right on it -- allow for ventilation) will help.
 
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